The Heiress

Set in a fashionable New York home during the 1850s, THE HEIRESS is based on a true story that was fictionalized by Henry James in his 1881 novel, Washington Square. Both the novel and play center on a shy, lonely heiress, her domineering father to whom she is devoted, and a handsome suitor with whom she falls in love despite her father's objections. Though set in the 19th century, THE HEIRESS is surprisingly modern. The play is a subtle and emotionally charged psychological portrait of three well-meaning but doomed individuals looking for happiness—-a superb study of the nature of love and missed opportunities.